Hope for the Future
by hannahace
Summary: The mutant children are safe in the arms of the few surviving X-men. But as their world comes crashing down around them again, Laura's new found family is endangered, as enemies and friends alike return for her. Hope Summers, swears to protect her, but will she be able to keep her promise?
1. Chapter 1

3 hours and 42 minutes after Laura had buried Logan, she and the other children had made it across the border. The hours of walking made all of them tired, but Laura stayed back, still mourning the loss of Logan. None of the other kids tried to talk to her. They'd seen her when she was upset, and it wasn't pretty.  
As soon as they were across the border, they stopped. According to the voice on the other end of the radio, this was where they were to meet. Laura took this time to sit and wipe away the remaining tears. The group waited a few moments in silence. The tension could be cut with a knife. Laura looked at her hands. The claws were retracted, but she extended them just a bit to look at them. She was the reason Logan was dead. He was gone forever. He wasn't coming back. And it was all because she had to be born.

The child shook her head. That was no way to think. Both Logan and Charles would say that. Charles was another person who was dead because of her. " _No. Stop it. It's not your fault"_ She told herself.  
A twig snapped, and everyone stood, ready for a fight as someone approached. Laura's claws extended, and the person stopped. They had on a hooded jacket.  
"Woah, it's ok. I'm here to get you guys." The person said. Judging by the voice, it was a woman.  
"Take off the hood." One of the boys said, still cautious. The woman did so, revealing fiery red hair. She couldn't have been older than 20.  
"Come on. It's not safe out here." She said, motioning for the kids to follow her. After their long day, they didn't argue. They simply followed her. Laura stayed towards the front. It was clear that the woman was on edge, looking around carefully for any impending danger. But Laura smelled nothing, save for the smell of dirt and blood on the kids and herself. There was also a hint of lavender mixed in, which she got from the red haired woman.  
"You're a mutant?" One of the kids asked. Laura glanced back at him. It was the heavier one with the Wolverine toy.  
The woman didn't look back. "Yeah. All of us here are. It's a safe haven for mutants." She replied.  
"How many mutants are here? And where exactly _is_ here?" Another kid asked. For children who had been quiet for nearly 4 hours, they sure were talkative now, Laura thought to herself.  
"Multiple. Less than we'd like, and more than most people want alive." The woman said, moving aside some brush to reveal a pebble walkway. Their footsteps were audible, which pleased none of them as they walked. A house came into view, and the kids eyes widened.  
"Welcome home." The redhead said with a smile, seeing their reactions. One of the older ones read the plaque on the pillar connected to the iron gate around the mansion.  
"Jean Grey's school for higher learning." The boy looked at her. "Jean Grey? The Xmen?" He paused. "Are you Jean Grey?"  
The woman laughed, unlocking the gate and leading them to the house. "No. But she's here, and you'll meet her in a minute." She walked them inside, unlocking the door. A man was walking by, and stopped when the door opened.  
"You're back in one piece, Cher." The man said with a Cajun accent, walking over with a smile and kissing her. She smiled.  
"Easy, Cajun. We have guests." She said. The man noticed the kids standing in the doorway for the first time.  
"We'll come on in, mon friends. Dis here is a safe place. I'm Remy. Remy LeBeau. You already met Hope."  
Before she could answer, someone called her name. "Hope?" Someone asked as the descended the stairs. Hopes smile widened and she walked over to the woman, hugging her.  
"Hey Mom." She said. The older woman had red hair too, even more red than Hopes, if that was possible. She looked at the children.  
"Welcome. I'm Jean Grey."


	2. Chapter 2

Laura's eyes were locked on Jean. Logan had shared a story about Jean with her. She had been much younger then, but even now, she was beautiful. Laura's eyes slowly went to Hope, who looked just like her mother.

"You knew Logan..." She said, speaking for the first time. All eyes fell on her.

"Yes. I know Lo-" Jean stopped. "Knew?" There was a long pause. "Oh no…"

Jean leaned and gripped the stairwell banister. Remy and Hope immediately helped balance her.

"Remy, take her upstairs. I'll take care of the kids." Hope said, and Remy nodded, carefully leading Jean upstairs. The older woman's eyes were welling up with tears. Laura looked at Hope as soon as they were gone.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered. The last thing she wanted was to make more people sad like her. Hope shook her head.

"It's… it's alright. We would have found out sooner or later."

One of the doors opened and a silver haired man suddenly appeared next to Hope.

The man looked the kids over. "They'll do." He said, and Hope forced a smile, hitting his chest lightly.

"Shut up. Kids, this is Peter. Now, I'll show you to your rooms."

The man smirked. "Bet I can get there sooner!" He said, before racing upstairs at super speed. Hope sighed, walking with the kids up, at a regular speed.

"And that's why you don't do drugs." She said, making some of the kids laugh.

"Miss?" One of them asked. "How many of the Xmen are here? That had to be Quicksilver, and the other man was Gambit, but how many are here?"

Hope opened the door to a room. "Not many. Most of them were killed a while back. Nightcrawler comes around every once in awhile. Wolverine…. never came, but I saw him occasionally." She sighed, and changed the topic. "Now, all the rooms look similar to this one, but this is yours." She nodded to one of the girls. "There's bathrooms in each room, and a walk in closet."

Hope took the other kids around, showing them to their rooms. Laura was the last to get her room. It was the second to last at the end of the hall, close to the huge window. Laura instinctively walked to the window and tapped on it, seeing how strong it was. It was bulletproof.

"This is yours." Hope said, opening the door to the room. Laura walked in, looking around. All of the rooms were large, with king sized beds.

Laura turned and looked at Hope. "Where's your room?" She asked curiously. Hope nodded towards the room next door, the last one in the hall.

"Right next door. All of the adults here have one's on the end of the hall, in case anything ever happens. We can take care of things that way." She answered, opening the curtains to let some sunlight in. "There's security systems rigged everywhere, so no one can get within a 10 mile radius of this place without us knowing. Plus there's a bomb shelter in the basement, just in case." She paused. "But we haven't had any incidents yet, and I doubt we will. This place is safe. I want you to know that. No one will get you. No one will hurt you ever again."

Laura looked at her. There was something about this woman. She practically radiated with kindness, but she also looked like she could kill if the occasion arose. She simply nodded, not in the mood to carry on a conversation. Logan was still at the forefront of her mind. Hope seemed to understand this, and after quietly saying something about leaving her to get settled, smiled slightly as she headed out, shutting the door behind her. Hope headed to her room, locking the door before walking to the bathroom and looking in the mirror. She sighed heavily, leaning on the sink.

Logan was dead. Her uncle, her friend, her confidante. Her best friend.

She looked at her hands and slowly extended the bone claws that resembled Logan's before he had gotten the adamantium ones. Blood dropped from them. The pain still was there when she used them, which was rare, but it wasn't as bad as the first few times. She would never forget the look on her father's face when she had pulled them out accidentally while arguing with her sister. The pain had made her black out, and she had awoken to see Logan and her father yelling at eachother, and her sister hiding from her. It took a month after that for her sister to talk to her.

Now, she retracted them and allowed the tears to fall. She would have to talk to the young girl who had told them about Logan's death. She hadn't even thought to get the kids names. She'd have to do that tomorrow. But for now, Hope went to her bed and laid down, falling asleep as she cried.


	3. Chapter 3

"Wake up, Cher." Remy said, shaking Hope lightly. The red head rolled over, swatting his hand away. Remy sighed and picked her up, ignoring her as she struggled against him, reaching for her bed. He sat her on her feet, and she glared at him with tired eyes. Remy smiled slightly.

"Sorry, but dem kids are wakin' up, and dey'll be hungry. I am too." He said. Hope rolled her eyes, smiling as she walked to the bathroom, going to attempt to tame her hair.

"Is mom up?" She asked as Remy walked in and sat on the counter next to her.

He sighed. "No… she cried herself to sleep last night." Hope said nothing about that. She had done the same. "She's taking it pretty hard. It's exactly like when she lost Scott… and the others…" He trailed off. Hope nodded, understanding. She knew how he felt. They all had lost someone that fateful day. Some more than others.

"What do you want for breakfast?" She asked, pulling her hair into a pony tail and leading him downstairs to the kitchen. Remy grinned.

"Dem eggs you make 'specially for me." He said, making her laugh.

"Well them you'll need to share some, because I'm making them foreveryone."

Remy made a pouting face. "Aw, Cher… those are mine…"

Hope laughed. "Just this once. Then they're yours forever." She kissed him, walking into the kitchen. Hank McCoy was sitting at the table, reading a paper. Hope walked over, looking over his shoulder at the headlines before gently prying it out of his hands. He glared at her, but she threw it in the trash.

"I'm making eggs." She said, ignoring his glare as she pulled out what she needed. The whole reason Remy liked them was because of the ingredients she used.

Hank finally spoke. "He's really gone." He said, sighing. Hope nodded sadly.

"Both of them are." She replied, turning on the stove top to let it heat up as she cracked the eggs.

The first of the kids came in. One of the girls. She looked at Hank with wonder. His blue fur amazed her, and she hesitantly walked over. He watched her.

"You can touch it." He said softly, and she placed her hand on it gingerly, running her fingers through it. She smiled.

"It's soft." She said. Hope smiled at them, working on breakfast. In no time, everyone but Jean was gathered at the table in the dining room. There was room for close to 500 people there. But there was only about 35 or so occupants of the house, with the group of kids being the latest addition.

There were 13 teenage or young adult mutants there, that weren't part of the group that came the night before. With the 15 kids that made 28, and the others were Hope and the remaining xmen.

Laura was the last one in, taking a seat at the end of the table. Hope placed a plate in front of her and smiled.

Mind if I sit with you?" She asked. She didn't like that the girl was sitting all alone.

Laura shrugged, so Hope grabbed her plate and sat across from her. The two are in silence, until Laura placed something on the table. Hope looked at it and recognized it as the paper she had thrown away.

"He was with us." Laura said quietly. "He was killed by someone who looked like my daddy. We buried him. But now…"

Hope nodded, moving the paper so that no one else would see it. The headline stated that Charles Xavier's body had been found, buried in some woods.

"Your daddy… you're Logan's daughter." It wasn't a question. It was a fact. Laura nodded, staring at her food.

"They're dead. And it's my fault."

Hope placed a hand on Laura's, who flinched, but didn't pull back. "It's not your fault. Trust me. I know what you're feeling, but you need to know that it's not your fault."

Laura looked at her with hard eyes. "How do you know? Have you ever lost someone?"

Hope nodded. "I lost my dad too. Along with other family and friends. And I'll tell you something. Charles Xavier? I called him Uncle Charlie. And when I was 10, he had a seizure that affected everyone around. He killed several of the Xmen. That included my father. Remy's girlfriend and my best friend. Others were killed too. Almost killed me."

Laura's wide eyes were locked with Hopes. Everyone at the table that was a former Xmen was looking at her. She never spoke of that horrible morning.

"Logan was the only one who could stop the seizure and he did. We buried our dead and moved on the best we could. The world hated us even though we helped them, and now look where we are. You know why you're here? To be a new generation of Xmen. You're the hope for the future."

The kids were listening carefully, and Laura was silent for a moment. When she spoke, it was so quiet that only Hope heard.

"Can my code name be Wolverine?" She asked. A smile slowly broke out on Hope's face. She went back to eating.

"Those are big shoes to fill. You have to earn it."

Laura looked at her with determination in her eyes. "I'll earn it. You'll see."


End file.
